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Maeve Hanna on…

Landmark human rights ruling in the UK Supreme Court

10 questions for… Balázs Sahin-Toth, winner of IBA pro bono

award for defending Roma rights in Hungary

Restarting careers for the over-50s

A new employability programme at A&O

Diary of a 70km trek across Jordan

for War Child

Increasing Access

PRO BONO AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT | ISSUE 01 | NOV 2017

“It’s people like Balázs, Maeve, Millie and Kristian who are continuing to grow our culture of pro bono and community investment work across A&O, demonstrating how it helps to build careers and lead a fulfilling professional life.”Annelies Van der Pauw, Partner and Co-head of Corporate Responsibility

IN THIS ISSUE

3 The people making an impact

Foreword by Annelies Van der Pauw and Mark Mansell

4 News from the network Roundup of events from across

A&O’s international network

6 Restarting careers Launching a new employability

programme for the over-50s

10 Ten questions for… Balázs Sahin-Toth,

counsel in Budapest and recent IBA award winner

12 The right to a fair appeal Landmark human rights ruling

in the UK

14 My 70km Jordan trek Diary of the A&O team’s trek

across Jordan for War Child

18 One year to go with War Child

Highlightsfromthefirstyearof our global charity partnership

© Allen & Overy LLP 2017

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Children at Za’atari Refugee Camp, Jordan

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The people making an impact

At the most recent International Bar Association conference in Sydney, Balázs Sahin-Toth, counsel and head of A&O’s Hungarian Restructuring and Litigation practice, received the prestigious Pro Bono Award 2017 for being “a leader in developing a pro bono culture in Hungary”.

Balázs has built a culture of pro bono in his home country – and indeed throughout A&O – in large part from defending the rights of Roma children and obtaining the firsteverrulingbytheSupremeCourtinHungary against illegal school segregation (read more on page 10). He is also a trustee for PILnet (an organisation that promotes access to justice), advises a number of NGOs and teaches at Eötvös Loránd University – as well as being one of A&O’s most active internal pro bono champions.

Likewise, another of our award-winning pro bono lawyers, Litigation senior associate Maeve Hanna, has also recently achieved a landmark human rights ruling

in the UK Supreme Court with charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (see page 12). It is people like Balázs and Maeve who are continuing to grow our culture of pro bono and community investment work across A&O, demonstrating how it helps to build careers and, as Balázs puts it, “leadafulfillingprofessionallife”.

But it’s by no means only our lawyers who are making an impact. In this issue, we also talk to Millie Foster,aworkflowco-ordinator in London and employability mentor. Millie has worked with students from our Smart Start programme for several years, but this year also became a mentor on A&O’s new employability programme – ReStart – helping Londoners over the age of 50 to get back into work (read more on page 6).

And Kristian Joyce, our head of business development in ASEAN, has recently completed a 70km trek across Jordan with an international team from A&O for our

global charity partner War Child (read his diary on page 14). Halfway through our partnership, we have already raised GBP783,000, enabling War Child to build an education facility for Syrian children in a Jordanian refugee camp. We are now pushing to reach a record fundraising target of GBP1 million by October 2018.

We would like to hear your views on this new pro bono and community investment magazine, so please get in touch (using the links below) and tell us what you think.

Mark Mansell and Annelies Van der Pauw Partners and Co-heads of Corporate Responsibility, Allen & Overy

IN THIS ISSUE

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News from the network

Financial Times commends partnership with Amref Health AfricaA&O’s two-year global charity partnership with Amref Health Africa has been ‘Commended’ in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2017. During the partnership, A&O contributed GBP1.72m to Amref to educate 170,000 children in Tanzania on sexual and reproductive health and reduce teenage pregnancy rates. The award particularly recognised A&O’s six-month pro bono project

to build Amref’s legal advocacy skills, enabling it to campaign for changes to sexual and reproductive health education and funding at local government level.

A&O’s pro bono and community investment work has been recognised in the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards for four years running.

Smart Start International expandsSmart Start – A&O’s award-winning work experience scheme for non-privileged young people – will welcome another cohort of students from marginalised backgrounds in India in February 2018. Following the success of Smart Start in Delhi in 2016, the programme will now run at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

Smart Start will also run again in Johannesburg in 2018, after first-year undergraduates from universities across South Africa completed the programme in 2016. And plans are under way to launch Smart Start in Hong Kong (along with a major banking client) and Amsterdam later in 2018.

In the UK, Smart Start, now in its ninth year, has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Enterprise Award 2017 for Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility – one of only six businesses to receive this award. It was also named Community Programme of the Year at the inaugural UK Social Mobility Awards.

Ithaca – tech innovation to address global refugee crisisIthaca has been selected as one of the first eight companies to join A&O’s new tech innovation hub – Fuse – which launched in London in September 2017.

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Afghanistan

South Africa

Syria

Guinea Bissau

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Philippines

Hong Kong

Indonesia

South Sudan

Allen & Overy Foundation announces new global grants recipientsThe A&O Foundation has approved grants totalling over GBP600,000 to 14 charities – both for new and on-going projects.

A new grant of GBP50,000 will support Children in Crisis to rehabilitate and educate young detainees at Kabul Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre in Afghanistan, increasing their chances of finding employment once released.

Another grant of GBP75,000 will fund the UN Refugee Agency’s project to overhaul a

much-needed database of case law on the rights of refugees and displaced people.

A full list of grants recipients is below.

The A&O Foundation is funded by all partners worldwide. It provides grants to charities that address our core themes of access to justice, education and employment, as well as making donations to disaster relief appeals around the world, for example the famine in East Africa and the Red Cross Syria appeal.

Ithaca is a not-for-profit enterprise working to develop an online platform, accessible by mobile phone, to help asylum seekers around the world track down pro-bono legal representation and advice. Joe May is co-founder of Ithaca: “Our primary aim while at Fuse is to lift Ithaca off the ground and build a working product that can support the numerous refugees in desperate need of legal support around the world.”

Fuse is part of A&O’s advanced delivery capability and brings together selected tech companies with A&O technology experts, lawyers and clients in a new space in A&O’s London office.

New charities awarded grants:

United Nations Refugee Agency – global project

Children in Crisis

Equal Education Law Centre

Legal Action Worldwide

Spark MicroGrants

International Care Ministries

Charities receiving repeat funding:

African Prisons Project

Hope and Homes For Children

Plan International

Syria Relief

Motivation Charitable Trust

Hand in Hand International

Justice Without Borders

SOS Children’s Villages

Uganda

KenyaRwanda

Burundi

Denis Chemla awarded Légion d’honneur for services to pro bono

Paris partner Denis Chemla has been presented with la Légion d’honneur – the highest order of merit in France – by former President François Hollande.

This recognises Denis’ work over two decades to help communities gain access to justice; in particular setting up Droits d’Urgence, an NGO that provides free legal advice to vulnerable people. Droits d’Urgence now employs 50 lawyers supported by 250 volunteers and runs programmes including legal clinics in prisons and free legal advice sessions in shelters and hospitals. Denis has also travelled to Kosovo with the UN to reconstruct the legal system following the war. He received the decoration at the Paris Court House in November 2017.

Restarting careers…Jayne Bravery is one week into her new role as a corporate fundraiser and account manager for the Ronald McDonald House Charities – an international organisation that provides accommodation for families who have babies or children staying long-term in hospital.“I went for this role as it’s a nice bridge between the corporate world and charity sector, both of which I enjoy,” Jayne explains. “I also liked the charity’s mission to keep families together while children are in hospital. The role is a maternity leave cover with the possibility of a permanent position at the end.”

Jayne is one of 39 people who recently took part in A&O’s new three-month employability programme: ReStart. Launched in April 2017, ReStart supports Londoners over the age of 50 who have been out of work for six months or longer.

“I left my last permanent job – a sales and events role – just over two years ago,” Jayne explains, “as I wanted to Jayne Bravery, ReStart participant 2017

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6 Increasing Access | Nov 2017

100% of participants say they feel confident about their future careers and would recommend ReStart to others

Of the 25 people who completed ReStart,19 have found employment within the first three months of finishing the programme

Each ReStart participant is matched with a business mentor from Allen & Overy

Nearly 100 people applied to join the first ReStart programme in 2017, with 40 candidates selected

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explore new areas. I took on a consultancy role which finishedeightmonthsago,butitwasn’taseasytogetback into work after that as I thought.”

The Missing MillionLong-term unemployment in the over-50s is an issue of growing concern. According to Business in the Community’s (BITC) report, ‘The Missing Million’, one million people in the UK aged 50-64 have been made ‘involuntarily workless’. For some, particularly those on low incomes, it is very hard to get back into work over the age of 50 – but over GBP80bn could be added to the UK economy over ten years, BITC estimates, by keeping over-50s in employment.

A&O partners Maria Stimpson and Trevor Borthwick supported the launch of ReStart. “The most successful workplaces have a multi-generational workforce,” Mariasays,“andbenefitfromtheimmenseamount of experience and maturity that older employees contribute. Helping those over the age of 50 to get back into work also minimises the damage long-term unemployment does to individuals and their families.”

Rediscovering strengthsReStart was devised by A&O and social enterprise, MyKindaFuture, to help people rediscover strengths andbuildtheirknowledge,skillsandconfidence.Nearly100peopleappliedtojointhefirstprogrammein 2017, with 40 candidates eventually selected on the basisofthosemostlikelytobenefitfromtheexperience and those open to changing roles or industries. Each participant was matched with a business mentor from A&O. Millie Foster, a co-ordinator with The Bridge (A&O’s central document services department) was paired with Jayne.

“I had mentored students before with Smart Start, A&O’s social mobility scheme for young people,” Millie says, “but I was keen to try this new initiative and develop more skills to help others.

“Wehadspecifictrainingandadviceonunderstandingpeople’s circumstances, potential outlook and expectations.WhenIfirstreadJayne’sCVandlearntabout her vast experience I felt a little daunted, but I realised the challenge for me was understanding that,

asamentor,I’mnotthereto‘fix’anythingbuttobeacritical friend and support network.”

As well as business mentoring, participants heard from guest speakers, such as LinkedIn’s Customer Success Manager, and took part in face-to-face sessions involving group discussions, case studies and personal reflections.Thesessionswereunderpinnedbye-learning modules on topics ranging from interview practice and developing action plans, to registering on LinkedIn and producing a video CV.

“The most successful workplaces have a multi-generational workforce and benefit from the immense amount of experience that older employees contribute.”Maria Stimpson, Partner

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Back in workOf the 25 people who completed all ReStart modules, 19 have found employmentwithinthefirstthreemonthsoffinishingtheprogramme.Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of participants sayingtheyfeltconfidentabouttheirfuturecareersandwouldrecommendReStart to others.

ForJayne,ReStartreinforcedthebeliefthatshewasnotaloneinhereffortsto get back into work. “It was just a great experience to be in a corporate setting again and have somebody to support me,” she says.

“I really enjoyed going in to see Millie at A&O – it made me realise how much I missed the workplace. She helped with the considerable number of questions I had and, if she couldn’t answer them, she always found someone who could.”

“I followed Jayne’s lead on where she needed support most,” says Millie. “I gathered information on things like presentation skills, transferable skills and event planning software. But most of all I wanted to be a listening ear and support system. I got a lot out of being a ReStart mentor – Jayne made the whole experience enjoyable and I learnt so much from her too. It’s certainly helped my own development.”

Jayne’sfirstweekinhernewrolehasbeen,shesays,awhirlwind.“ButI’verarely met a team of people who love their work so much and are so passionate. They’re fantastic.

“This is a new industry for me but there’s huge scope to go on with corporate fundraising, either staying with Ronald McDonald or with anothercharity,”saysJayne.“IwantedtofindapositionwhereIcan learnandtrysomethingdifferent,soIfeelveryexcitedtohavethisnewand challenging role.”

ReStart will run again in 2018 For information about the application process or becoming a mentor, contact sue.wisbey@allenovery.com

“The challenge for me was understanding that as a mentor I’m not there to ‘fix’ anything but to be that critical friend and support network.”Millie Foster, Workflow Co-ordinator

Shortlistedfor CSR/Diversity Initiative of the Year

at the British Legal Awards 2017

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Balázs Sahin-Toth is counsel and head of the Restructuring and LitigationpracticeinA&O’sBudapestoffice.Describe yourself in 30 words…

I was born and raised in Budapest and have three kids (age 17, 14 and two weeks old). In addition to family, I love gardening, animals and books.

What motivated you to start doing pro bono work?

Probonoworkhelpsmeleadafulfillingprofessionallife. It feels much more immediately rewarding because you have face-to-face human interaction with someone. To have a real person sitting in front of you, whose concerns you can ease, that just feels good.

What are your proudest achievements in pro bono work?

Winning a long and complex litigation battle for Roma students in Hungary who had been illegally segregated in school. This is one of the most serious social problems in Hungary and there’s no sign of resolving it any time soon. After six years of litigation, the Supreme Court awarded damages for school

segregationforthefirsttimeever.Itwasalandmarkvictory which I hope will force the government to address the unfair social disadvantage faced by the Roma community. (Read more on page 11)

Howdoyoufitprobonoworkaround your busy schedule?

It is a challenge. We are selective and only take on pro bono work that we feel is strategic. We have to say no to some pro bono requests.

In what ways has pro bono work helped you build your career?

Ithasraisedmyprofileinternallyandexternally. Pro bono is also a natural hedge against burn-out.

Describeyourperfectdayoffwork…

Wandering in the woods with friends and dogs.

Balázs was recently awarded the prestigious International Bar Association Pro Bono Award 2017, for being “a leader in developing a pro bono culture in Hungary”.

This follows Balázs’ pro bono award from the President of the Hungarian Bar in 2015, in large part for his work defending Roma rights, which includes obtaining a landmark ruling against illegal school segregation in Hungary. He is also working with an ‘eco-system’ of professionals on an award-winning Roma employment programme, as well as being a trustee for PILnet (an organisation that promotes access to justice), advising a range of NGOs and teaching at Eötvös Loránd University’s civil law department.

Ten questions for… Balázs Sahin-Toth

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Which is your favourite city in the world, and why?

Budapest, where I can enjoy sizeable forests 10 minutes from my house, cultural events, spas and a buzzing party life. And it’s where I have most of my friends and family.

Tell us something not many people know about you…

Before university I worked as a librarian.

Who do you admire most, and why?

Dogs – because they are cool, intelligent and sensitive.

What words of advice would you give to someone interested in getting involved in pro bono and community investment work?

Talk to senior colleagues who have done pro bono work,andalsouseclearinghouseswhowillhelpfindthe pro bono opportunity that suits your calling.

A fair education for Roma childrenDespite numbering 600,000 to 800,000 people in Hungary, Roma still face widespread discrimination and barriers to basic services like education and healthcare. Segregation in schools is a particular problem, with parents and teachers actively seeking to keep Roma children apart from other children – often resulting in Roma being placed in schools for children with special educational needs rather than in mainstream education.

In A&O’s Budapest office, Balázs Sahin-Toth has been conducting strategic litigation for 62 Roma students in the small town of Gyöngyöspata. The students claim their human rights have been breached and their life chances affected because of illegal segregation at school.

Balázs is working with lawyers from local Budapest firms – Péter Gárdos, Adél Kegye and Eleonóra Hernádi, as well as the Chance For Children Foundation – to claim HUF500,000 (approximately GBP1,400) in moral damages for every year each student has spent in a segregated class. The team intends for this to be a test case which will pave the way for the courts’ practice thereafter.

“This is a substantial piece of litigation,” Balázs explains, “as all 62 students, plus parents, teachers and experts, have been heard by the court – that’s around 36 hearings in the first instance, each taking a full day.

The Gyöngyöspata litigation builds on a successful six-year case won by Balázs against a school in Miskolc. In this landmark victory the Supreme Court awarded, for the first time, so-called moral damages for school segregation and held that there was no need to prove actual losses in future cases, as ‘illegal segregation’ already implies harm has been caused.

, says Balázs.

“The Roma litigations also enhance the sensitivity of judges to the wider social inequalities Roma face, and increase the likelihood of effective judicial remedy.”

In addition to the litigation work, Balázs is involved in a programme – Integrom – to help Roma graduates find employment in Hungary. The Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, has brought together an award-winning ‘ecosystem’ of supporters – including field workers, recruitment agencies and companies willing to apply affirmative action towards Roma – for which A&O is the pro bono legal adviser. An increasing number of global and local businesses are joining the Integrom programme and hiring Roma people as employees.

“We hope the amount of damages awarded in the Gyöngyöspata case will give the children a chance to pay for a proper education”

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In June 2017, the UK Supreme Court made a landmark ruling against the Government’s controversial‘deportfirst, appeal later’ policy for certain foreign nationals convicted of criminaloffences.A&Oacted for charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), whose evidence as intervener was described by the Court as some of the “most compelling”.

Deport first, appeal laterThe Immigration Act of 2014 enabled the Home Officetodeportcertainforeignnationalswhohadserved prison sentences before any human rights-based challenges to their deportations could be made. The High Court and Court of Appeal upheld the policy, which requires individuals to appeal the deportation from abroad – but the Supreme Court has delivered a major blow by judging it to be unlawful.

The Court found that excessive costs, plus “formidable technicalandlogisticaldifficulties”,preventedappealsfromabroadbeingeffective;citing,forexample,

The right to an effective appeal in the UK

Maeve Hanna, Senior Associate

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demands upon appellants to provide equipment for video evidence, not only for themselves abroad but for the Tribunal in England. Of 1,175 deportation cases made under the policy, only 72 individuals had attempted to pursue an appeal from abroad – none were successful.

A&O senior associate Maeve Hanna advised BID on its intervention in the Supreme Court, supported by trainees Stefan Nigam and Farah El Yacoubi, and supervised by partner Andrew Denny.

“WhenBIDfirstdiscussedthecasewithus,wefeltthe policy was inherently unfair,” says Maeve, who in 2015 received a LawWorks Pro Bono Award for her previousworkwithBID.“Weknowhowdifficultitisfor anyone faced with deportation to understand their legal rights, let alone when they have already been deported to countries where they may have nofamilyorfinancialsupport.”

Grappling with human rightsTheSupremeCourtfoundtheHomeOfficepolicytobeincompatible with the requirements of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects rights to a family and private life. Given its experience in deportation work, BID was able to provide strong evidencetotheCourtontheimpactofthe‘deportfirst,appeal later’ policy on individuals and their families.

The appellants in this case had both lived in the UK for manyyearsandbeengrantedindefiniteleavetoremain.One, a 23-year old born in Kenya, had lived in the UK withhisparentsandsiblingssincehewasthree;theother,from Jamaica, had seven children resident in the UK.

While the details of the case centred on these individuals and their families, the issues have much widerramifications.“SupremeCourtinterventions,”Maeve explains, “are about putting all relevant informationbeforetheCourtonsignificant matters of public interest.”

The Court’s judgment was so important, she believes, because of its willingness to grapple with how to balance human rights considerations. While the Government argued a strong public interest in deporting ‘foreign criminals’ in advance of their appeals, the Court felt that this “may be outweighed by a wider publicinterest…that,whenweareaffordedarightofappeal,ourappealshouldbeeffective.”

Political and legal impactTherulinghasasignificantpoliticalimpactonthe‘deportfirst,appeallater’process,notleastbecausetheGovernment introduced measures in 2016 to extend the

policy to all immigration claims other than asylum. Legally, it has wider implications outside the immigration context;forexample,ontheprotectionsaffordedbyArticle 6 (the right to a fair trial) as well as Article 8.

BID and other immigration practitioners are now awaiting the Government’s next steps. The Home Officemaytrytoredresstheparticulardefectshighlighted by the Court – for example, by making it easier for appellants to participate in trials from abroad – so it is possible that further litigation will challenge the legality of the scheme, whatever apparent procedural safeguards are put in place.

“This was an interesting and challenging case for A&O,” says Maeve. “While we have a lot of experience dealing with human rights claims, we had to understand their requirements here in a relatively new area of law. But A&O has supported BID for many years now and we knowhowimportantitsworkis.Therewardsdefinitelycame in seeing the impact that BID’s evidence and submissionshadforthissignificanthumanrightsruling.”

Celia Clarke, Director of BID, agrees. “Time and time again we have seen clients not only threatened with permanent separation from their British families and children, with no legal advice or representation, but the possibility that they can only argue to remain in the UK under Article 8 grounds once they have been deported. We are so grateful for the support of A&O’s incredible team to be able to challenge this fundamental injustice.”

The full Supreme Court judgment is available here

“A&O’s advice and support has been extremely valuable to us in a number of influential interventions before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. The outcome of this particular case makes a tremendous difference to everyone with a human rights appeal.”Pierre Makhlouf, Assistant Director, Bail for Immigration Detainees

My 70km Jordan trek

Kristian Joyce is A&O’s head of business development for ASEAN. He was one of 22 people to complete a 70km trek across Jordan’s most beautiful nature reserve, raising over GBP80,000 for A&O’s global charity partner, War Child, tosupportchildrenaffectedbyconflict.Thisishisdiaryofthetrek…

DAYS 1 & 2

Day one in Jordan: I arrived at our hotel and, along with colleagues from Sydney, Hong Kong and Jakarta, accepted our driverSael’sofferofatourofthecapital,Amman.Highlightswere the Citadel, with its incredible layering of cultures and architectures, and of course the falafel and kanafeh, a hot dessert with rose syrup and pistachios. Superb.

We stocked up for the trek in the city’s best date and nut shop, with the weather being my only concern for the next few days: 32° in the shade was hot, but walking for eight hours every day in the searing sun was going to be tough.

Day two, the A&O and War Child team met for breakfast. Very cool to sit in a room with 22 people from so many nationalitiesandroles–alotofintellectualfirepower,allwithsmiles on their faces. I knew a handful of trekkers from my six

years at A&O and was delighted to meet the rest – a happy, talkative bunch, sure to mesh well during the trek.

Before departing, War Child talked about how they are changingthelivesofchildrenaffectedbywar.Theaverage time a refugee now lives in a state of displacement is 17 years, withlimitedresourcesandaccesstoeducation;inmanycasessurviving the ordeal only to enter society completely unprepared. War Child supports three camps in Jordan, in which as many as halftherefugeesarechildren.Weleftthebriefingwithnodoubtaboutwhatourfundraisingeffortswillhelpachieve.

A three-hour bus trip brought us to the start of our trek in Dana,anoldvillageperchedona1,200m-highcliffedge. We checked in at a peaceful eco guesthouse and watched the sun vanish into the dusty horizon.

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(L-R) – Kate Cavelle (London), Chris Scarf (Sydney), Phoebe Burton (London), Kristian Joyce (Singapore), Wendy Auma (War Child)

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DAYS 3 & 4 – 42 KILOMETRES

WesetofffromDanaat9amasathickblanketoffogrosefromthevalley.Ourfirsttwohourswounddownasteep path of crumbling rocks – essentially travelling down an old deep ocean shelf, then hiking along the dry sandyoceanfloor–theheartoftheJordanValleyleading to the ancient city of Petra. The scale of it all was jaw-dropping.

Itwasextremelyhotonthevalleyfloorandthelastfewhours were tough, but we made it to the camp with only a few blisters and scrapes from thorny bushes (said to be the thorns Jesus wore as a crown). Our row of tents surrounded a large communal mat, where we ate a wonderful meal of Middle Eastern salads and lamb. Exhausted, several of us fell asleep on the mat under the stars – pretty special, to say the least.

Day four, we washed with a broken spring water pipe and packedfortheday:nuts,lunchandfivelitresofwater. We covered 22km in eight hours, most of it slow-going over loose rocks. Zigzagging up the mountain we reached the most challenging part of the trek: a two-foot wide trackonthecliffedge.AttimesIlostconfidenceand hadtostop.Scarystuffbutweallpressedon.

The views at every turn were astonishing and at one point we saw Israel on the horizon. The last 2km were hard, but renditions of Living on a Prayer and I Will Survive carriedustoourmagnificentcampsite.DrinkingsweetmintteawithaterrificfeastofMiddleEasternchickenaroundthefire,itstruckmewhatagreatgroupwewere: what one person had forgotten, someone else offered.Veryhearteningthatwewerealldeterminedtocomplete the trek and help others in any way we could.

Day three: camp at Wadi Ghwair

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The average time a refugee spends in a state of displacement is 17 years, with limited resources and access to education.

War Child supports three camps in Jordan, in which as many as half the refugees are children.

DAYS 5 & 6 – 28 KILOMETRES

Today’s 15km hike would take us down into Little Petra. Wesetoffatagoodclipoverthe600mhillbutthenspent a long stretch negotiating the descent through a steep gorge. A walk through deep desert sand was the last leg, before we stopped for lunch at a tea shack and heard from our excellent guides, Nadr and Saddam, what life was like for the original Nabatean inhabitants of the land between 400BC and 200AD.

We walked the last few kilometres to our beds for the night – a very basic camp but with showers! Left us feeling like new people, ready for tomorrow’s 10km walk through Petra, the main prize of the trip.

Ourfinaldaystartedwithstifflegs,windingalongaridge with hundreds of stone steps. Eventually this led us to ‘The Monastery’, a 2,000m² tomb built around 100AD.ItwasthefirstofmanyamazingsightsinPetraand we felt lucky to see it without others around. Descending 3km down another stone staircase, wefinallyarrivedinPetra’sRoman‘MainStreet’, lined with what were once shops and houses, as well as

tombs carved into a 15m-high rock wall. Further down the road lay the famed Treasury building, sublime in its scale and craft and without doubt the showpiece of the city. Although only around 20% of ancient Petra has been unearthed, archaeologists believe it was a diverse and well-organised city.

We boarded the bus to the Dead Sea and arrived at our finalhoteljustbeforesunset–apparentlyoneofQueenCleopatra’s favourite spots. We covered ourselves with DeadSeamudandfloatedinthesalt-richsea.Whatareward for weary limbs.

Our last meal together ended with thank you speeches and an impromptu awards ceremony. I was struck by the thought that most child refugees in Jordan have walkedsomuchfurtherthanus,oftenfleeingfortheirlives with little preparation or footwear. That’s why War Child is worth our support. For me, this trip will always be remembered as a breath-taking, painful, laughter-loaded foundation for many lasting relationships and memories.

“I was struck by the thought that most child refugees in Jordan have walked so much further than us, often fleeing for their lives. That’s why War Child is worth our support.”

Kristian Joyce, Head of Business Development, ASEAN

Carly Hyland (Johannesburg), & Phoebe Burton (London)

War Child is an international charity that provides education and protection services to childrenaffectedbyconflict.InNovember2016,A&OstaffandpartnerschoseWarChildto be our global charity partner for two years, and to help create a child-friendly space in a Jordanian refugee camp, providing psychosocial support and education to Syrian children.

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One year to go with War Child…

War Child facilitator and children at Za’atari Camp in Jordan

Fundraising performance of ‘Anything Goes’ (photo: Paul Berney)

The A&O and War Child trek team in Jordan

“We’ve seen an unprecedented level of support for the partnership. Thanks to the generosity of people right across A&O, we succeeded in reaching our initial target for War Child within six months.”Andrew Ballheimer, Managing Partner

In 2017, A&O Managing Partner Andrew Ballheimer visited Emirati Jordanian Camp to see how War Child is supporting children affected by conflict.

Watch the video of Andrew’s trip here.

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One year into our partnership…

Fundraising performance of ‘Anything Goes’ at the Hackney Empire Theatre, London (photo: Paul Berney)

Trek Jordan team (L-R): Lewi Aga Basoeki, Sarah Stuart, Ita Garcia, Mehreen Siddiqui, Kristian Joyce, Jody Smith, Eva Sednickova, Kate Cavelle, Sam Ros

The Belfast office participating in a five-a-side football tournament, Amsterdam

‘First Hour, First Day’ global fundraising campaign: more than 1,100 people across 41 offices donated the first hour or first day of their pay in 2017, raising GBP467,000 – a record for A&O.

Refugee Run in Hong Kong: a simulation organised with the Crossroads Foundation putting 70 people from A&O and our clients in the shoes of a refugee. Also in Hong Kong, a silent auction to see A&O partners running a tea trolley service in fancy dress, and staffing the office’s reception.

Performance of Cole Porter musical ‘Anything Goes’ at London’s famous Hackney Empire theatre, organised, staged and performed by 140 A&O staff and alumni.

Five-a-side football tournament with 20 A&O teams from across Europe competing in Amsterdam.

(photo: Justin McLean)

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Andrew Ballheimer, Managing Partner, and Daisy Wakefield, Global Charities and Communications Officer, with War Child in Za-atari Refugee Camp, Jordan

The Belfast office participating in a five-a-side football tournament, Amsterdam

Having reached our target of GBP500,000 in the first six months, we have extended our partnership goal for War Child to

GBP1 million Our extra funding will allow War Child to support more children across conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Trek Jordan: 22 people from 11 offices completed a 70km trek across Jordan’s most beautiful nature reserve (read more on pages 14-17).

Sydney Harbour Splash: a team of eight completed the famous one-kilometre open water swim in Sydney Harbour.

A week of War Child in the U.S., with cake sales, an office yard sale and silent auctions at office summer parties.

(photo: Justin McLean)

2017

Over 80 fundraising events across 18 A&O offices OUR FUNDRAISING

TOTAL AT THE END OF YEAR ONE:

GBP783,000exceeding our two-year partnership

target of GBP500,000

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© Allen & Overy LLP 2017 | CS1708_CDD-48923_Nov17_ADD-71808

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or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications or an individual with equivalent status in one of Allen & Overy LLP’s affiliated undertakings.

GLOBAL PRESENCE

Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,400 people, including some 554 partners, working in 44 offi ces worldwide. Allen & Overy LLP or an affi liated undertaking has an offi ce in each of:

Abu DhabiAmsterdamAntwerpBangkokBarcelonaBeijingBelfastBratislavaBrussels

Bucharest (associated offi ce)

BudapestCasablancaDohaDubaiDüsseldorfFrankfurtHamburgHanoi

Ho Chi Minh CityHong KongIstanbulJakarta (associated offi ce)

JohannesburgLondonLuxembourgMadridMilan

MoscowMunich New YorkParisPerthPragueRiyadh (cooperation offi ce)

RomeSão Paulo

SeoulShanghaiSingaporeSydneyTokyoWarsawWashington, D.C.Yangon

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